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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

7 out of 10: As winner of the 2010 Cybils Award for middle grade fiction, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda has "the secret sauce that makes a child or teen want to pull it off the shelf (or download it onto their gizmo of choice) and not move/eat/sleep/breathe until the last page is turned."

A boy named Dwight, the weird kid of the class, makes an Origami Yoda and starts giving out advice and answering questions. The other kids in the class are unsure if the Yoda is real or not. Some say yes, because the Yoda "is so wise even though Dwight is a loser." Others say the Yoda is just a "green paperwad."

Tommy starts a case file compiling all of the stories. Why does he go to all of this trouble? Origami Yoda gave him good advice before, but then he receives more advice. And he is terrified because if the advice is bad, he will be completely humiliated.

with Origami Yoda, but I, like, hate to write things down. That's too much like homework,

having to write a bunch of stuff down. And make complete sentences and all that. I'm like

no thanks, dude. So I'm just going to record it on this... uh... recording thing and let Tommy

write it down. So... uh... I guess you can edit out where I say... uhhh... and stuff like that.

﻿

If that isn't how typical sixth-grade boys talk, the you got me. There's no way I could write that authentically for a twelve-year old boy.

I love the cover. It's one of the best covers I've seen recently. To add to the fun factor, the book includes direction to make your own Origami Yoda. I'll definitely be keeping this book in mind for Brayden when he is older.